Sometimes, you can figure out what something is or does just by puzzling over its name. The term application server fits that bill. Technically and non-technically speaking, an application server is a server that is designed for or dedicated to running specific applications. At its most basic, an application server might be used to run one application. If that application is the one that keeps your company network going and is, therefore, a massive application, it might take up the entire RAM and ROM requirement of one server.
Another possibility is that an application server is used to run certain kinds of applications. For example, your company might have several word processing or spreadsheet or desktop publishing programs, and all of those applications might reside on one type of server. You and everyone who needs to access those programs would then log on to the Desktop Publishing Server, for example, to use InDesign or Quark XPress or Pages or any other kind of design program that your company might recommend and have on hand.
Another kind of application server is one that runs an operating system. This is more old-fashioned, but it is still used. Certain computers, more commonly called terminals, connect to an application server in order to access basic functions. An excellent example of this is the Microsoft NT server.
Like ants and bees that have specific roles in life, application servers have specific parts to play in the overall anthill or beehive of your company. As with many things computer-related, there is a more complicated example. Oracle, one of the main server developers in the world today, has come out with a J2EE (Java Platform Enterprise Edition) server. A huge number of companies worldwide use the J2EE server, which is able to run very powerful applications that can be accessed by multiple computers connected to that server on a network, and so the term application server has come to be somewhat synonymous with the J2EE server.
What it all boils down to, though, is the computer world's propensity to designate certain resources to perform certain actions. In the same way that you might use a word processing program to write a paper but a photo manipulation program to touch up those vacation photos that you took, tech departments use application servers to compartmentalize the way that a company's multiple computers do certain things. And if they're doing their job well, you will hardly be aware that such activity is going on.
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anon243851
Post 26 |
I know what an application server is, but how do I deploy it? I want to install office on the server. How do I access it from client systems? |
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anon112784
Post 25 |
thanks for the short and neat explanation. |
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anon99294
Post 23 |
finally i understood what an application server is. Thanks for keeping it short and simple. worth reading! |
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anon93849
Post 22 |
Wow, what an explanation. Thumbs up, guys. your explanations are worth reading. |
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anon92275
Post 21 |
great explanation. Can you give more information about how do we decide the number of application server instances that may be required. for example say a company has 25 app server instances running. does that say anything about the number of applications running? |
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anon86633
Post 20 |
Thanks a lot. very useful to me. dananjayadod |
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anon83774
Post 18 |
This is the best for any learner and also me. thanks. |
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anon68753
Post 16 |
This article helped me a lot to understand what an application server is. Could you let us know a few examples of software for an application server? - Vinay. |
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anon68396
Post 15 |
This was excellent. I easily understood it. now I know process of application servers. -Sarvam |
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anon63889
Post 14 |
thanks for being clear and comprehensible. --saurabh |
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anon58702
Post 13 |
I compliment you for making it this easy. I have been through a lot of other material but none of them clarify the concept so well. |
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anon54111
Post 12 |
Very good explanation given about an application server. The application server became a synonym for j2ee servers. |
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anon52439
Post 11 |
thank you. it is very useful to me.
Apparao |
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anon45976
Post 10 |
Application sever has been defined in simple language that is really good. I would like to know some examples of application sever or webserver like 'Apache' with some more elaboration. --Sharmila Juvekar |
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anon45962
Post 9 |
It didn't help us at all. |
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anon45541
Post 8 |
Thank you. That so helped. |
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anon45259
Post 7 |
Thanks. That is a good reference for me. |
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anon44404
Post 5 |
thank you. I got to know exactly what i wanted to know.
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anon40331
Post 4 |
I appreciate your effort to explain Application Server. now I know what an application server is. --Soujanya. |
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anon39989
Post 3 |
Thanks. Now i can have a decent conversation with the vp of it at my job! |
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anon31815
Post 2 |
This is a really good illustration of application server, explaining exactly what the application servers do. Bhagat Singh |